Still Believe
by Are You Drunk Right Now
Summary: "To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves."


**_Written July 31, 2018._ _Canon-AU._**

 ** _It is recommended that you listen to "Destiny" by Zero 7 to set the atmosphere of the story, as that's what I was listening to when I wrote this!_**

 ** _Quote in summary by Federico Garcia Lorca from the play "Blood Wedding."_**

 ** _Lyric taken from "Destiny" by Zero 7. I own nothing._**

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 _And when I'm down, you breathe life over me_

 _Even though we're miles apart, we are each other's destiny..._

It was dangerous to trek the forests of the demon realm alone. She was well aware of that, but something inclined her to do it anyway. Well, _someone_. The thought of _someone_. The tournament had been in full swing, and she was ordered to maintain her disguise. No one was supposed to know who she was, because if they found out, surely the demons would consume her spirit. Although quite naive, she was very careful about revealing who she was, which lead her to cover herself with a clever disguise- a fortune teller cape and hood. Lots of demon fortune tellers would dwell in the woods, looking for potential costumers. Knowing that, she'd fit right in with them, and no one would question a thing.

She picked up on a familiar spectral energy nearby. It would be just off the end of the forest where the land met the sea which was an ashen red color. It was her first time being in this realm, so she relied on a compass to point her towards the end of the forest, and she approached, but quickly hid behind some trees when she noticed a figure at the edge of the land, looking over at the sea. She knew who it was. This was the spectral energy she had been following for half an hour now. She watched him carefully, and intensely, hoping that he wouldn't spot her.

He stared down at the palm of his hand, his eyes traveling up to those dark symbolic markings. It's still early, he thought. There was no need to use it yet. He'd have to save up all his energy to face _her_. One of the three king's he's been observing for the past year. In truth, he infiltrated her base to gain intel on how she fights, and her level and her spectral singularity. After a year of studying her, he thought that he might've gotten her all figured out.

He stood up, holding his hand out in front of him, and focusing his energy, shutting his eyes, while his _third_ eye opened wide, and irradiated. Dark aura seeped from the marks, and he could feel the burn of the dark flames under his skin and through his spirit. Just before he could unleash his energy, his eyes fluttered open, feeling a change in the energy around him. Calmly, he grabbed the hilt of his katana, ready for anyone who challenged him. After all, it wouldn't even be a challenge. He'd slaughter them, and lick the blood off his sword with an honest-to-God smile on his face. He concentrated, locating the presence of the spectral energy, before vanishing, and appearing right in front of the source of the energy, pointing the tip of the sword at their neck.

She gasped, shutting her eyes, awaiting her impending death… but it never came. When her eyes fluttered open, she watched him sheath the blade. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "This is no place for a weakling like you." He said, venomously. She wasn't exactly sure how to answer his question. After all, she didn't even know what she was doing besides following his energy for no particular reason.

"I was just... strolling!" She said, slightly defensively. She had to wonder how he knew it was her, since she was donning an entire disguise. Was her disguise so obvious? Or did he just simply know because of all the time they already spent together when they were in the group back then? He looked away from her, and proceeded to going back to his original position, standing at the edge. Her eyes traveled him, observing his body until she noticed that a portion of his hand had been charred and seeping dark purple aura. "You're hurt." She said, lowly.

"Did you say something?" He asked, not turning to face her.

"You're hurt." She said, louder. He looked over his shoulder at her worried face, her brows furrowed, her lip quivering in concern. She began approaching him, her eyes fixated on the wound. He looked down at what she was staring at, and scoffed.

"This is nothing. Go away if you're going to worry." He said. She kept approaching him, holding her hands out to him. He pulled away from her. However, he did notice the pain building in the palm of his hand. He always knew that it was risky to use _that_. It would either lead to him being completely drained and passing out, or being burnt. In this case, because he didn't use it at full power, he was burned. It was quite painful, but he'd do anything to keep _that annoying girl_ away from him.

"Oh, but if you don't treat it, it'll get worse!" She said, in a pleading tone. "Let me help you." She offered him a smile, her hands beaming with a bright, cooling blue light.

"If you come any closer, I'll kill you." He said, with no emotion, not even looking at her anymore. She frowned, crossing her arms, and sighing.

"You're always so stubborn." She said. "You know, it won't hurt to let people in sometimes." She told him, sitting next to him, holding her knees to her chest. He said nothing. She had been staring off into the distance, at the red sky of demon realm, and feeling the heavy, warm, hazardous air and wind. Any normal human would instantly die upon setting foot in this realm. The stagnating air would be toxic enough to kill them. For other beings like demons and spirit realm workers, it was nothing. It was like breathing any other air. "It doesn't hurt to let people help you sometimes." She said, in a mutter. Of course, he heard her though. He looked at her, but she hadn't realized, since she was so encompassed in the horizon.

"Why?" He asked. She looked at him.

"Why what?" She asked.

"Why do you _want_ to help me so much? What's in it for you?" He asked.

"I want to help you because… we're friends, right?" She asked.

"Friends? Tch…" He scoffed again. "You _are_ too trusting. What makes you think I won't kill you right here, right now?" He asked.

"Well, if you wanted to kill me, I'm sure you would've done it already, right?" She asked, cynnically. "What would be your reason for waiting _this_ long?" She added, looking up at him, into his eyes. He immediately looked away, back towards the horizon. "I don't think you want to kill me." She said, lowly.

"You have no idea." He cryptically replied. While staring at the horizon, he could feel the pain in his palm only becoming much more intense. He wanted to do everything in his power to keep _her_ from healing him, but he was running out of mental choices. He couldn't keep going back and forth in his mind. And he knew she'd never let him live this one down if he let her heal him, but what choice did he have? Fighting his pride, he turned to her, and kneeled. She looked over at him. "Heal me." He told her, holding his hand out to her. She was taken back for a moment, her eyes widening. She was nearly frozen, as she didn't expect him to budge so soon after she offered, and after he rejected her. "Are you going to stare like an idiot, or are you going to help?" He asked, with an irritated tone of voice. Snapping out of her shock, she took his hand into hers, and shut her eyes, concentrating the healing energy of the spirit realm into her hand, the cooling blue aura omitting from her hand. He watched as it took over the wounds, with a soothing effect. He was mesmerized, the light illuminating their faces. He had no idea she was capable of this kind of power. She wasn't useless after all. He knew she had _some_ potential, as she stopped the demonizing process of Keiko back when they first met, and he was up to his usual meddling, but he had no idea she had _this_ kind of potential.

"Almost done." She said, lowly. The dark portion of his skin had been reverting to it's normal state. He was captivated by this power of hers. "And…" She trailed. "You're done." She smiled, letting go of his hand. He stared down at it, observing. He had been good as new. There had been no pain or bruises. He looked up at her, with intense eyes.

"What _are_ you?" He asked. She went silent, staring back at him.

"I'm just… a ferry girl." She said. "Nothing more, nothing less." He didn't break his gaze from hers. Something about her was captivating, he couldn't decipher what it was, though. Her eyes, stormy purple, her hair, frosty blue similar to his twin sister's hair. She had a light colored aura about her that he's never seen in anyone he's ever met. It was no secret that she was a conventionally attractive girl, he thought. The only thing that ruined it was whenever she opened her mouth. To him, her personality was annoyingly scathing, and he didn't want to deal with it at all. But, right now, in this moment, things were different. He wondered if she had put him under some enchanting spell, because he couldn't help but begin to lean in. She gasped inwardly, but not making a sound. She was beginning to mimic his actions, as well, leaning in and hooding her eyes. While leaning in, her offered her a smirk. Her face was warming up, and she felt butterflies in her abdomen. A peculiar feeling she's never experienced before.

Just before they could close the gap between each other, he leaned away. "Of course you are…" He replied stoicly, before simply vanishing, leaving her with wide, wandering eyes. She set her hand over her chest in an attempt to calm the quickening pace of her heart.

When she went back home for the night, she laid awake, staring at the ceiling of her room. She couldn't help but wonder about what happened. Was he _truly_ going to? Or was he playing her emotions again? She set her fingertips along her lips, shutting her eyes, and exhaling, imagining just what it would be like if their lips met. She drifting to sleep, and dreamed about what it would be like.

After all, she still believed it could happen.

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 ** _Thank you for reading. Don't forget to review! Any criticism is welcome!_**


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